How the Internet Changed One Man’s Life

A summer Christian concert had sparked an interest in 106.9 the Light, and after poking around on 1069thelight.org, Ball found a link off to the right that led him to billygraham.org.

From there, he landed on PeaceWithGod.net, which explained the Gospel of Jesus Christ through a video presentation.

“I went to (PeaceWithGod.net) three or four times before I actually said the prayer and said,’This is how I’m going to live,'” said Ball, who works as an emergency responder in Asheville, N.C. “I looked at it and went through all the pages. I would get to the last page,and all these things were going through my head.”

Ball knew he had to make changes in his life. Divorced five years ago, he had lost joy and happiness and no longer liked the person he had become.

“The decision was always there,” he said. “But there was this other little voice that was able to talk me out of it. Finally, that little voice that tried to talk me out of it lost.”

Ball, reading this landing page, said a prayer to receive Christ as his Savior, and his life has never been the same.

“I believe it was the Holy Spirit,” Ball said of what finally convinced him. “It was,’Now is your time.’ “

Ball’s life is now completely different than the one he once lived. He’s replaced nights out with his drinking buddies to waking up at 4:30 a.m. to read Scripture and devotions. He even has three Sripture apps on his android phone he reads daily.

And he got remarried on June 11 to Karen, a woman he met—where else? — online.

“You can look at him and tell a big difference. He’s always happy,” Karen said. “I know that he’s accepted Christ into his heart. There’s no doubt about that. If the website brought him to know Jesus Christ, I think that’s fabulous.”

All over the world, decisions are being made for Christ through PeaceWithGod.net, a new Internet evangelism tool introduced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.(Click here to see where decisions are being made in real-time.)

The goal is to reach hearts around the globe, and to bring the life-changing power of the Gospel to people one computer screen at a time through search engine words and links, like the one Ball clicked on.

“I went to PeacewithGod.net and it’s basically step-by-step,” Ball said. “It tells you who Jesus was on earth and who He is in our lives and what He’s done for us.”

Using John 3:16 as a model for its five-video online Gospel presentation, PeacewithGod.net gives everyone an opportunity to begin a relationship with Christ by saying a prayer of salvation.

“It gives you a prayer to actually say and I was thinking to myself, ‘If I’m going to say this prayer, this is who I’m going to be from now on,'” Ball said. “There was this part of me that said ‘this is your time.'”

E-counselors will soon be available to answer questions at PeaceWithGod.net, along with an online discipleship course and a network connecting visitors to local churches.

“I know for sure, if something happens to me, I’m going to Heaven,” Ball said. “And everybody I come into contact today, if they want to know how to accept Christ, they canask me and I’ll them how to.”